I‘ve been afraid of heights for as long as I can remember. At work, I’d avoid using the step ladder. I was ridiculously risk averse.
And yet, last week, I spontaneously jumped off the side of a mountain with a complete stranger. What the hell happened and how did I become this person?
I guess it started with going to gymnastic strength classes and using the ceiling bars – I’d be terrified, but I didn’t want to be the person who bowed out in class.
Then I joined aerial skills classes and eventually ended up being able to get onto the static trapeze or climb the silks. A slow and gradual process over time, I’d initially have to stand on the high trapeze and ‘just breathe’ until I was no longer shaking. Then I would work on a new move. The more classes I attended, the more I completely let go of the fear and focussed on making cool shapes.
I reframed fear as excitement.
But I always swore I would never paraglide
“I like my legs too much” was my stock phrase.
Until that is, last week.
I was invited to stay in a villa in Lefkada in Greece. I noticed the paragliders from the pool every evening, and didn’t think much about it. Well maybe just “Why the hell would you do that?”
Definitely something for other people. Wreckless people. Adrenaline junkies.
One evening a table was booked for dinner at a place called “Fly Me”.
When we arrived, I had walked ahead up a steep shiny stone pathway. I turned a corner and was completely shocked to see a bright orange canopy spread out on the ground just in front of me, over some astroturf which appeared to be straddling a cliff. An orange jacketed person with INSTRUCTOR on their jacket was standing in a harness far too near the edge for my liking.
The host greeted me, iPad in hand. I could only focus on the canopy filling with air. “F”£K off” involuntarily fell out of my mouth. I felt so embarrassed.
“Can I help you madam?” “We have a table booked” “Oh that’s next door, you are in the wrong place” Certainly I felt I was most definitely in the wrong place.
Over dinner we watched people taking off on tandem rides. I spoke with a group from Brighton, one of them had just flown. “There’s no f*£ing way I’d ever do that” I said. He said he had just done his first flight. “If you ever get the chance, go for it” he said, describing his experience in great detail. At that moment I went from “never” to “maybe one day”.
The next day I sat in the beach bar reading my book. It was a perfect moment. The breeze and temperature were just right. The chair was comfy. I felt completely at one. In flow. Not worrying about the future or regretting the past. All felt well in my world. I relished the feeling, read my book and thanked my lucky stars.
My friends joined me and we ordered lunch. I put my book away and we chatted. Mainly about how we felt like the luckiest people on earth.
Our conversation was interrupted by a voice
“Does anyone want to fly today?”
A paraglider stood in the middle of the cafe, a beaming smile and high energy.
I felt all eyes upon me.
“I might be up for it”
“There is no might, there is yes or there is no. If it is not, that’s fine. Just say.”
I thought for a moment. I spend my life suggesting to other women they get out of their comfort zone, face their fears, live their best life.
“It’s a yes”
And that’s how I did my first tandem paraglide. In my bikini & sundress, and a borrowed pair of Vans, my hair is still wet from the sea.
I chose to leave my phone behind, wanting to focus on the experience rather than worrying about getting great footage.
As we drove up the mountain tracks in a jeep, I had two main thoughts “This is JUST the sort of thing I tell my kids never to do” and “there is no way my travel insurance will cover this”
“The older you get” said Pepe, “the fewer opportunities there are to experience something for the first time. That’s why children are so enthusiastic and happy. Everything is for the first time”
So true and I had never thought of it that way.
I don’t really know what to tell you about the flight. Taking off was not what I imagined. We did not ‘drop’, we flew upwards and caught thermals, hovering above the Cyprus trees, changing direction and swooping towards the mountains edge. Over olive trees and wild herbs, goats and craggy rocks.
“If you don’t like it we can go back to the beach” “I love it!”! A warm breeze blew past my helmet. A couple of times I felt momentary fear, but I decided to enjoy the experience. I reframed it.
We threw our arms and legs outwards and just sat there, in the air, flying like birds. “Weeeee”
When we finally lost the thermals we flew way out to sea “Now you see why it’s called ‘The Big Blue” said Pepe
He told me about the bay where he flies in Mexico, how the whales go there to give birth and he and his flying friends watch them from the skies.
We flew for what seemed like ages over the incredible ocean, me looking out for dolphins as we’d seen some playing way out at sea the day before.
“Do you see the smiley face on the beach? That’s where we are landing.”
We flew a few times over the beach and came to a gentle walking halt on the beach. Well he walked. My legs completely buckled under me and I found myself on my knees.
Walking back up the steps to the beach bar was wild. Everyone clapped. I felt a mixture of elation and exhilaration. And disbelief. “What the hell just happened?”
“Now can you see why I fly every day?”
I absolutely could.
That week I did a few more firsts.
Diving off the side of the boat 1.5m into the water, sleeping out on deck during a huge storm, The Mistral, under the full moon; underwater tightrope walking when we had to moor in a bay due to high winds at sea.
Pepe was right. Doing new things makes life exciting and new.
When I was a teenager my dad used to ask me “And if your friends asked you to jump off a cliff, would you do that too”
Apparently yes dad, I would.
No regrets.
Clare Honeyfield is a multi-award-winning business owner, published author and High Performance Coach, founder of The Consistency Coven. Clare helps fabulous unique women to live their best lives, make more money and have more fun in one hour a week.
Clare Honeyfield is a coach who helps women founders to navigate the world and create an awesome life to feel proud of.
Clare is the founder of Stroud Farmers Market and director of Made in Stroud Shop and loves to get out in the world having fun and experiencing new stuff in her 60s.
